Voters in Oregon, Alaska, and Washington, D.C. headed to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to legalize sales of recreational marijuana.

But would-be weed entrepreneurs in the states might be disappointed to learn that a federal tax law designed to target coke lords in the ’80s is eating into the profits of legal pot merchants across the country.

“This is one of the most critical issues facing the industry today because it directly affects the bottom line of anyone who cultivates or sells medical or recreational marijuana,” said Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, an association of more than 750 cannabis-related businesses across the United States. “It results in businesses paying effective tax rates of 70 to 85 percent when they should be only paying 30 or 40 percent.

California has been under a state of emergency since January because of dangerous drought conditions that currently affect over 99 per cent of the population and more than 37 million people.

Despite the fact that California has long been vulnerable to forest fires and water shortages, some suggest that a steady increase in cannabis grows since medical marijuana was legalized in the state in 1996 has had a significant impact on conditions. This has led to environmental crimes including water theft.

Scott Bauer of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife examined aerial photographs of four watersheds in northern California’s so-called Emerald Triangle, which contains the counties of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity. He found that marijuana growing areas doubled between 2009 and 2012.

Undercover police operations run the gamut from Miami Vice-style raids to phone tapping á la The Wire, but last week Facebook told law enforcement agencies that the social media site will not be an option for officers looking to carry out covert operations.

The company reprimanded the Drug Enforcement Administration for creating a fake profile using a real person’s information and personal photos to assist in an “undercover” sting investigation, saying that they found the activity “deeply troubling.”

Facebook’s chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, sent a letter to the agency on October 17 informing them that “the DEA’s deceptive actions violate the terms and policies that govern the use of the Facebook service and undermine the trust in the Facebook community.”